Men's Basketball Weekly Honors - Dec. 8
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY RELEASE - DEC. 8 (PDF format)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Ameen Tanksley • Hofstra
Jr., F, 6-5, 230 - Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter
Tanksley repeats as CAA Player of the Week after averaging 21.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in Hofstra’s 2-0 week. The junior forward was a perfect 9-for-9 from the floor, including 5-for-5 from 3-point range, and scored a career-high 30 points in an 88-74 victory over Norfolk State. He followed with 13 points and six rebounds in a 68-51 road win at Appalachian State. For the week, Tanksley shot 56.5% from the floor and 60% (6-10) from three-point range.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Kory Holden • Delaware
Fr., G, 6-2, 180 - Salisbury, Md./J.M. Bennett
Holden averaged 14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in Delaware’s two games last week. The freshman guard scored a season-high 13 points and handed out a game-high four assists against Army and then topped his scoring mark with a team-best 15 points versus Delaware State. Holden has scored double figures in five of his seven games this season and ranks fifth in the CAA in assists (3.6 apg).
CONFERENCE NOTES:
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD: Three CAA players scored 30 or more points in a game last week. William & Mary senior guard Marcus Thornton poured in a career-best 37 points on 14-of-18 FG shooting, including 8-of-11 from three, in the Tribe’s narrow 68-67 loss at Richmond on Dec. 3. The 37 points were the 10th-most in Tribe history and the most since 1990. Hofstra junior Ameen Tanksley was a perfect 9-for-9 from the floor, including 5-of-5 from three, and scored a career-high 30 points in the Pride’s 88-74 win over Norfolk State on Dec. 2. UNCW senior Freddie Jackson poured in 33 points on 14-of-16 FG shooting as the Seahawks crushed St. Andrews 105-47 on Dec. 3. It was the 9th-most points in Seahawks’ history. Jackson also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
HOT STARTS: Several CAA teams have begun the season in impressive fashion. Towson (7-2) got off to its best start ever at the Division I level before having its seven-game winning streak snapped at Georgetown on Sunday. Northeastern recorded five victories in the month of November for the first time in program history, and is now 6-2 after beating Western Michigan last Saturday. Hofstra’s 6-2 record is the Pride’s best since the 2008-09 squad opened the year with a 7-1 mark. James Madison (6-2) has won six straight home games and its only two losses this season are to #6 Virginia and #12 Ohio State.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS CONTINUES: It was another winning week as CAA teams combined for a 10-7 record. For the season, the CAA is 43-32 (.574) in non-conference play. Thirteen of the losses have come against teams from the Power 5 conferences, including five teams who are currently ranked in the top 25 (#6 Virginia, #7 Villanova, #12 Ohio State, #20 Miami and #22 West Virginia).
MORE ON THE NON-CONFERENCE NUMBERS: Making the non-conference winning percentage even more impressive is the fact that CAA teams have played only 31 of their 75 non-conference games (41.3%) at home and the league is a combined 24-7 in those contests. CAA teams have also picked up 11 road victories and are a combined 8-5 in neutral site games.
THREE CAA TEAMS IN TOP 100 OF RPI: Three CAA teams are ranked in the top 100 of the latest RPI report produced by Collegiate Basketball News (rpiratings.com). UNCW leads the group of CAA teams at #88, followed by Northeastern at #90 and James Madison at #97. The CAA is ranked 14th out of the 32 Division I conferences.
EXAM WEEK SLOWS CAA SCHEDULE: With exams taking place on most of the CAA campuses, there are only eight games on this week’s schedule. However there are several challenging matchups as UNCW visits 4th-ranked Louisville on Sunday, Towson travels to Temple on Wednesday and Elon goes to Missouri on Thursday.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR TOWSON’S DAVIS: Towson sophomore forward John Davis leads the CAA and is tied for seventh in Division I with five double-doubles this season. Four of them have come in the past five games, including a career-high 23 points and 14 rebounds in a victory over Coppin State on Dec. 3 and 10 points and 10 boards against Georgetown on Sunday. Davis is averaging 11.3 ppg and leads the CAA in rebounding with 9.2 rpg.
ELON’S SAMSON CLIMBS 3-POINT LIST: Elon junior guard Tanner Samson has moved up to 8th place on Elon’s career three-pointers list with 170 after draining 11 treys in a pair of victories last week. He scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds against Central Penn and tallied 17 points in 18 minutes versus Virginia University of Lynchburg. Samson leads the CAA with 31 three-pointers this season and is shooting 45.6% from beyond the arc.
W&M’s SHAVER NEARS 500 WINS: William & Mary head coach Tony Shaver has 499 career victories and is just one win away from becoming the 86th coach with at least 10 years of Division I experience to win 500 or more games.
AUTOMATIC AT THE FREE THROW LINE: Towson junior guard Four McGlynn was 6-for-6 at the free throw line last week, continuing his near-perfect accuracy. For the season, he is an incredible 45-of-46 (97.8%) at the charity stripe, which ranks third in Division I. Last season, McGlynn led the CAA and ranked sixth nationally in free throw percentage at 91.3%.
For more CAA men's basketball news and notes, click on the full release link above or check out the
Men's Basketball Notebook on our Hoop Scoop blog.